Pria
Pria is the fifth episode of season one of the ''The Orville''. Charlize Theron guest stars as Pria Lavesque, a time-travelling antiques dealer determined to steal the [[USS Orville|USS Orville]] for private collectors in the future. The episode was written by Seth MacFarlane and directed by Jonathan Frakes. It features the music of John Debney. Despite middle-of-the-road ratings among television audiences in the United States, Pria proved a hit among critics who gave the episode some of its strongest reviews until that point in the season. Teaser Fox released a 30-second promotional teaser on September 28, 2017."The Orville 1x05 Promo "Pria"". Fox Broadcasting Co. Sept. 28, 2017. A narrator announces that actress Theron will guest star on The Orville the upcoming Thursday and that Pria may be "the most surprising episode yet." Commander Kelly Grayson says, "She may not be what she seems." Captain Ed Mercer tells someone off camera, "Give me back my ship." Lieutenant Gordon Malloy tells the bridge: "I think everyone's going to want to see this." Plot Synopsis Act 1 The bridge crew enjoys an episode of the show Seinfeld. Isaac, however, does not understand the humor of the show. Malloy explains that slapstick comedy is enjoyable, and promises to show Isaac why later. The Orville shortly after receives an emergency message from a mining ship caught on a sun diver, a moribund comet trapped in the gravitational pull of a star. From her ship, consortium miner Pria Lavesque is patched to the bridge, who says that she is in trouble. Act 2 is checked out in the ship's Medical Bay.]] Lavesque tells the Orville that the heat of the nearby star has damaged her ship beyond recovery. Mercer, Malloy, and Lieutenant Alara Kitan land on the ship by shuttle. They take Lavesque aboard and quickly launch back to the Orville. The star's gravity proves too strong for the shuttle's engines, but Lieutenant John LaMarr reins it in via the ship's tractor beam. Back on the Orville, Lavesque is given a temporary quarters and invited to join the officers for cocktails later that evening. Meanwhile, Isaac enters the bridge with Mr. Potato Head pieces on his robotic head. Malloy cackles and explains that this was a practical joke and that it is now Isaac's turn to prank Malloy. At cocktail hour, Mercer and Lavesque connect over similar childhood experiences growing up in Massachusetts, Earth. After, Lavesque invites herself into Mercer's quarters to thank him personally and he kisses her cheek. Act 3 Grayson searches the Vega Mining Consortium data logs for anyone named "Pria Lavesque" but to no avail. She approaches Mercer in Engineering, where he is introducing Lavesque to the greater crew. Grayson tells Mercer in private that the lack of a personnel file for Lavesque is suspicious, but Mercer dismisses her request to search Lavesque's quarters. Mercer convinces Kitan to investigate Lavesque's room, and the two find a strange metallic box under her bed, which their scanners are unable to penetrate. Lavesque enters and the pair is forced to end their search early. Act 4 join Captain Ed Mercer for drinks.]] Mercer is furious that Grayson and Kitan searched their guest's room without probable cause. They mention the impenetrable box, but Mercer retorts, "So it could just be a belt buckle pin for all you know?" He formally reprimands Kitan. When Kitan exits, Mercer discloses that he believes Grayson is concerned only as he develops intimate feelings with Lavesque. They are interrupted by an emergency on the bridge. The ship is rocked by collisions with invisible objects in space. Isaac believes that the ship is caught in a dark matter storm. With no way to detect dark matter, their deflectors deplete rapidly and destruction becomes imminent. However, Lavesque convinces Mercer and Isaac to flood space with neutral axion particles through their weapons array, which renders the dark matter visible. Act 5 Malloy is unable to navigate through the astounding amount of destructive dark matter. With no options left, Mercer turns helm control over to Lavesque, who successfully navigates them to safety. The Orville survives but its communications array was completely destroyed. Lavesque gives Mercer the coordinates to a nearby mining outpost capable of repairing the ship. Mercer takes Lavesque on a date in the Environmental Simulator to show her a recreation of Unuk 4 and better get to know each other. They kiss and have sex in Mercer's quarters. In bed, Mercer opens up to her about his marriage and the affair, and admits that she is the first person he trusts since the divorce. Later, Malloy wakes to find his left leg missing below the knee. He hops angrily to the bridge to confront Isaac, who informs Malloy that he played a practical joke on Malloy. Malloy is sent to sick bay to regenerate the limb. Lieutenant Yaphit discovers the metallic box planted inside their computer system, which cannot be removed. Mercer, Grayson, and Kitan storm Lavesque's room; she tells them that she is a time traveler from the 29th century. Act 6 . The crew is helpless against her advanced technology that has taken control.]] Lavesque presses buttons on the skin of her arm to activate the box and assume control of the ship. She explains that the Orville and its crew were supposed to be destroyed in the dark matter storm, but that she traveled back in time to rescue the ship, in order to sell to private antique collectors from the 29th century, who will bid high prices for the Orville. The good news, Lavesque continues, is that the crew gets to live on in her century when they "should" have died in the 25th. It is also revealed that Isaac hid Malloy's severed leg in the ceiling in Lavesque's room. Chief Engineer Steve Newton uses a diamond drill to break into the box and Isaac scans its data stored inside, but the box sends a fatal electrical shock into Isaac before he can report his findings. The Orville enters the wormhole to the 29th century. On the other side waits a Benzian ship of extraordinarily advanced technology. However, Lavesque is surprised by a sudden attack from Grayson and forcibly restraied. LaMarr modulates the ship's deflectors to evade the Benzian craft's tractor beam while Malloy pilots back through the wormhole. Kitan hauls Lavesque to the brig and Isaac is revealed to be alive, having upload his consciousness to the ship's computer just before inspecting the box. A humbled Mercer tells the crew that he will never again make the mistake of not trusting his First Officer. Act 7 Lavesque, now captured, pleads with Mercer to send the Orville back through the wormhole before the current timeline is irreparably damaged. Mercer explains that the time is always open to change and that he is not beholden to continue the future's preferred version of events. He orders the bridge to destroy the entrance to the wormhole and Lavesque disappears. Production Filming was completed sometime in 2016 or early 2017 under the direction of Jonathan Frakes. Filming took roughly eight days while composer John Debney's score took three weeks to complete."I believe each score takes roughly 3 weeks for the composer to write". MacFarlane, Seth. Twitter. Oct. 12, 2017. Creator Seth MacFarlane wrote the script for the episode. However, even after completing Pria, MacFarlane lacked a suitable, suspenseful scenario where the crew of the Orville would be introduced to the character of Pria Lavesque. Science consultant André Bormanis suggested stranding Lavesque on a "sun diver," a comet colliding with a star. MacFarlane loved the idea. "Everybody thought that could look really amazing," Bormanis recalled. "And it gave us a good 'ticking clock' to build suspense into a rescue mission."Mahon, Chris. "Aliens and AI: André Bormanis Explores the Science Behind 'The Orville'". Outer Places. Sept. 20, 2017. After Entertainment Weekly leaked news that Charlize Theron would guest star in the episode, MacFarlane revealed that recruiting Theron was remarkably simple. "I had worked with her on the western that I did [A Million Ways to Die in the West], and I had one of the best experiences of my life. You know, call and ask her to do the show, and . . . she astonishingly said, 'Yes, I'll come do your little TV show.'""How Seth MacFarlane Got Charlize Theron To Be On 'The Orville' | SDCC 2017 | Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. July 26, 2017. (In fact, Theron once said that working with MacFarlane on the Western film helped her recover from a two-year malaise on acting."Charlize Theron Says Seth MacFarlane Made Her Enjoy Acting Again". Entertainment Weekly. May 2, 2014.) Comparisons with Star Trek The episode has received attention for its notable similarities with the show Star Trek, especially the series The Next Generation. ''The character of Pria Lavesque, in particular, parallels the time-travelling antiques thief of Berlinghoff Rasmussen and the ethically-questionable archaeologist of Vash. For example, Rasmussen claims to be a historian from the future in order to gain the trust of the ''Enterprise and steal valuable items from the ship. The similarities are not coincidental. Frakes as director intentionally aimed to recreate the look and feel of the show The Next Generation, in which he co-starred about 20 years before, while capturing a lighthearted, funny tone to appeal to younger viewers: I was afraid that it was going to be like ''Family Guy, and it’s not really, but it’s also not really as serious as Next Generation. I think Seth [MacFarlane], and Brannon [Braga], and whoever else is involved in all this, they found a tone that clicks with this audience, either the millennial audience or the old school audience. Everyone is very pleasantly surprised at how well the show has been received. I’m happy to see the homage, and I’m happy to see success for whoever wants to steal good ideas''."Jonathan Frakes Compares 'Star Trek: Discovery' and 'The Orville'". Additionally, several Star Trek shows had visitors from the 29th century, which may have inspired the choice to have Lavesque come from that particular century. Reception Viewership For more information on the episode in the context of the season, see main article: Season 1. Pria ''was well received by TV audiences, and enjoys an 8.2 rating on IMDB.""The Orville" Pria (TV Episode)". ''IMDB. Last accessed Dec. 27, 2017. It was seen by 3.43 million viewers in the United States. Although respectable, it was the lowest viewer rating until that point and the third-lowest of the season."The Orville:Season One Ratings". TVSeriesFinale.com. Last accessed Dec. 6, 2017. Critical Response After Pria aired, The Orville enjoyed some of its highest praise of the season from critics. Michael Ahr of Den of Geek gave the episode 3.5 stars, writing that the time travel plot was well-done but that the romantic subplot felt "clunky."Ahr, Michael. "The Orville Episode 5 Review: Pria". Den of Geek. Oct. 5, 2017. Jammer of Jammer's Reviews awarded the episode 2.5 out of four stars, noting: "Pria' features probably the most successful and natural integration of comedy into an Orville episode yet — so much so that I'm beginning to wonder if this series would be better off just embracing itself as a comedy and not trying to be Star Trek so damn hard."Epsicokhan, Jamal. "Pria". Jammer's Reviews. Last accessed Dec. 28, 2017. Nick Wanserski of the AV Club, who had given the show some of its harshest criticism, praised the episode as "the first episode of the season that feels like taking a lungful of real air. It’s clever . . . and generally delivers a packed, often very funny hour of television."Wanswerski, Nick. "With a little help from a guest star, The Orville feels like it’s finally coming into its own". AV Club. Oct. 6, 2017. Trivia *This episode features one of the smallest casts of the entire show, with only the main cast and Steve, Yaphit, Pria, and the ship's Computer. *The beverages drunk by Mercer, Lavesque, and Grayson at the officer's cocktail hour were in fact really alcoholic, and were glasses of whiskey."Seth MacFarlane and Adrianne Palicki". The Talk. Nov. 30, 2017. *This was the second episode in a row to feature a major cast member from Seth MacFarlane's film, A Million Ways to Die in the West. *Director Jonathan Frakes is best known for playing Commander Will Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also directed the first-season Star Trek: Discovery episode, "Despite Yourself", which aired a couple of months after "Pria," making Frakes the first individual to direct episodes of both "competing" shows. **Coincidentally, the Discovery episode also includes a time-travel element in its plot. *To simulate Gordon as one-legged and hopping onto the Bridge, actor Scott Grimes wore a large green sock over his "amputated" leg. The sock was then greenscreened out during digital processing.Twitch. "The Orville • New York Comic Con 2017 • interview". Youtube. Oct. 7, 2017. **According to Peter Macon (Bortus), that scene took 15 to 20 takes due to the cast laughing constantly."THE ORVILLE PODCAST EPISODE 3 - THE PETER MACON INTERVIEW". Planetary Union Network. Sept. 22, 2017. *Pria says she captured Amelia Earhart and brought her to the 29th century for the same reason that she sought the Orville. References * MacFarlane has confirmed that Mercer's heated response to Grayson, "I never do it near the food. You know that," is in fact a nod to writer P.G. Wodehouse and the show Jeeves and Wooster ''("I never do it near the food. You know that, Jeeves.")."Hey book-learnin’ types: Spot the P.G. Wodehouse quote in tonight’s episode of #TheOrville". MacFarlane, Seth. Twitter. Oct. 5, 2017. * The Bridge crew watches the ''Seinfeld episode "The Junior Mint." * Ed and Pria reminisce about growing up in Massachusetts, both visiting a Salem witch trials museum. Ed had "nightmares for a month" after seeing a holographic interrogation of Giles Corey at the museum. In real life, Salem, Massachusetts has several visceral witch trials museums, albeit none with holographic projections. * Ed chastises Kelly for playing "Nancy'' Drew," the titular character of a number of mystery detective books. Mistakes * Isaac severs Lieutenant Gordon Malloy's leg at the knee. However, when the amputated limb is shown, it is severed at the hip. Cast Names and title are as they appear in the credits unless otherwise noted. Main Cast *Seth MacFarlane as Capt. Ed Mercer *Adrianne Palicki as Cmdr. Kelly Grayson *Penny Johnson Jerald as Dr. Claire Finn *Scott Grimes as Lt. Gordon Malloy *Peter Macon as Lt. Cmdr. Bortus *Halston Sage as Lt. Alara Kitan *J. Lee as Lt. John Lamarr *Mark Jackson as Isaac Special Guest Star *Charlize Theron as Pria Lavesque Recurring Cast *Larry Joe Campbell as Steve Newton *Norm Macdonald as Yaphit *Rachael MacFarlane as Computer References Category:Episodes